Seattle police walk back crackdown on nudity at Denny Blaine
Community demands answers after legal beachgoer is trespassed; SPD pauses patrols and confirms nudity is not a crime
In the latest development in an ongoing saga over Seattle’s Denny Blaine Park, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes has publicly affirmed that public nudity is legal under Washington state law—walking back a recent incident in which officers trespassed a trans woman from Denny Blaine Park for sunbathing nude. The statement came during a tense May 7 community meeting where beachgoers confronted the department’s escalating presence at one of Seattle’s only clothing-optional beaches, long cherished by the LGBTQ+ and nudist communities.
“I will make sure that everyone understands that nudity is legal,” Barnes told a packed crowd at Grace United Methodist Church on Wednesday. The admission came days after his officers ordered beachgoers to dress and removed one parkgoer, known publicly as Ocean, who refused. “The officer trespassed the woman for being naked. We have photo evidence, she’s laying down, she’s doing nothing,” said Colleen Kimseylove, co-leader of the Friends of Denny Blaine.1
The fallout from the incident has been swift. On Wednesday, SPD also told Capitol Hill Seattle that it is “pausing directed patrols” at the park and has referred the matter to the Office of Police Accountability. In a public statement, Barnes reiterated that “simply being nude at this park is not a crime,” while emphasizing the department’s commitment to supporting marginalized communities and reevaluating how to balance enforcement with the park’s “historic use” as a nude and queer-friendly space.2
Pressure building as summer approaches
The recent incidents follow months of rising pressure from an affluent neighbors’ group, Denny Blaine for All, which filed a lawsuit in April demanding stricter enforcement of perceived misconduct. As Planet Nude has reported, beach advocates believe the true target is legal nudity itself, not lewd behavior. “These aren’t the actual issues Sloan and Hollingsworth have,” Sophie Amity Debs of Friends of Denny Blaine told Planet Nude at the time. “Their issue is with the nudity.”3
Ocean, the beachgoer who was trespassed, echoed that view: “What happened to me was not a mistake, it was an experiment,” she told The Burner, suggesting police were testing the limits of community resistance.4
While SPD’s retreat from “directed patrols” marks a victory for beachgoers, many remain wary. “I think that was a show of nonsense,” Kimseylove said after the meeting, expressing frustration that Barnes did not rule out future enforcement actions. The police chief also avoided directly responding when asked whether his officers would be trained not to target lawful nudity in the future.5
Despite the rollback, Denny Blaine’s future remains uncertain. On May 18, Friends of Denny Blaine will host a bystander intervention training at the park to promote community-led solutions. “We want the community to feel empowered,” Debs previously told Planet Nude, “to step in when they see inappropriate behavior.”6
As the summer warms up and political pressure mounts, the fight for the park has become a broader referendum on how Seattle values its public spaces—and who gets to feel safe in them.
Planet Nude will continue to follow and report on this story as it develops. 🪐
More on Denny Blaine
McCall, V. (2025, May 8). SPD chief tells Denny Blaine beachgoers legal nudity is legal. The Stranger. https://www.thestranger.com/news/2025/05/08/80047730/spd-chief-tells-denny-blaine-beachgoers-legal-nudity-is-legal
Capitol Hill Seattle. (2025, May 7). Seattle Police says will pause ‘directed patrols’ at Denny Blaine, OPA investigating. https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2025/05/seattle-police-says-will-pause-directed-patrols-at-denny-blaine-opa-investigating/
Nicks, E. (2025, April 26). Neighbors sue Seattle over Denny Blaine nude beach. Planet Nude. https://www.planetnude.co/p/neighbors-sue-seattle-over-denny
Nerbovig, A. (2025, May 9). Beach goer trespassed from Denny Blaine speaks out. The Burner Seattle. https://www.theburnerseattle.com/post/beach-goer-trespassed-from-denny-blaine-speaks-out
(McCall, 2025).
Nicks, E. (2025, March 25). Denny Blaine belongs to the people. Planet Nude. https://www.planetnude.co/p/denny-blaine-belongs-to-the-people
Nude people of Seattle , and nude people of Washington state need to be seen naked all over the city, not just at a single park. Seeing nude people going about normal every day activity naked needs to become common for clothists. Seeing someone nude needs to become ordinary in the experience of average people.
As long as Seattle nudism is restricted by nudists to some secluded park, and one that has a reputation as a gay hangout, nudity will never become commonly accepted. Seattle invented World Naked Gardening Day to promote legal nude gardening in Seattle. That needs to continue all summer. How about doing regular naked dog walks or bicycling on the Burke-Gilman trail? Do some naked jogging through Ravenna Park (I was doing that in the 1960s), or the West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails? Drive naked. Walk naked, work naked. And most importantly, be seen naked.
If only one person does it he's seen as strange, but most people will enjoy seeing him. If we all start being seen naked we will demonstrate that it's comfortable and normal, and we will inspire many others to join us.
As I pointed out in a reply to a previous article about this topic, Seattle lost it's previous attempt to prohibit nudity. The WA State Court of Appeals ( Seattle v. Johnson ) ruled that nudity is NOT prohibited under WA law, and Seattle is enjoined from adopting a city ordinance more restrictive prohibiting nudity than state law. Seattle had to pay a settlement to Johnson for false arrest and revise it's City Code to be no more restrictive than state law. Casual nudity, minding your own business while nude, is legal in the entire state of Washington, not just at Denny Blaine Park.
What is prohibited under WA law is 1. doing something "indecent" while naked, (probably meaning sexual) or 2. "INTENDING" to cause someone else to be alarmed or affronted. Neither of those apply to someone lounging about on a beach or walking on a trail, bicycling down a street, tending one's garden, mowing one's lawn, etc.
Seattle police are restricted in their response to radical religious or body phobic complaints about nudity anywhere in the city. As this article says, "Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes has publicly affirmed that public nudity is legal under Washington state law." That statement simply affirms their compliance with the previous Court Decision on the subject. Anti-nude zealots need to get a life, or go lobby the state Legislature to change the law.